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Cited by 427Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseInjury Epidemiology and Prevention

Familial, psychiatric, and socioeconomic risk factors for suicide in young people: nested case-control study

Open access
Agerbo, Esben, Nordentoft, Merete, Mortensen, Preben Bo·2002·BMJ
DOI 10.1136/bmj.325.7355.74PMC PMC117126
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Abstract

Objective: To estimate the risk of suicide in young people related to family and individual psychiatric and socioeconomic factors. Design: Population based nested case-control study. Setting: Data from longitudinal Danish registers. Cases and controls: 496 young people aged 10-21 years who had committed suicide during 1981-97 in Denmark and 24 800 controls matched for sex, age, and time. Main outcome measures: All suicides in Denmark compared with controls; parents and siblings identified from population based registers; inpatient information from discharge registers of national hospitals; and socioeconomic data from administrative registers. Results: Parental factors associated with an increased risk of suicide in young people were suicide or early death, admission to hospital for a mental illness, unemployment, low income, poor schooling, and divorce, as well as mental illness in siblings and mental illness and short duration of schooling in the young people themselves. The strongest risk factor was mental illness in the young people. The effect of the parents' socioeconomic factors decreased after adjustment for a family history of mental illness and a family history of suicide. Conclusions: Recognising mental illness in young people and dealing with it appropriately could help prevent suicides. The high relative risk associated with a low socioeconomic status of the parents may be confounded and overestimated if not adjusted for mental illness and suicide in the family. What is already known on this topic: Young people who commit suicide have a history of mental illness or a family history of mental illness or suicidal behaviour Dysfunctional family backgrounds and socioeconomic adversity also contribute to suicide in young people Targets for preventive strategies are controversial, as few population based studies have been conducted and none have included all the risk factors What this study adds: Suicide is more likely among young people if a parent commits suicide or there is a history of mental illness in the individual and their siblings Socioeconomic risk factors seem to be less important Preventive strategies should be aimed at the early recognition and optimal treatment of mental illnesses

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  • Maternal suicide might have a stronger impact than paternal suicide.

    “Maternal suicide might have a stronger impact than paternal suicide”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Agerbo et al., 2002

  • Several studies have found an age effect with impact of suicide being stronger when experienced at younger age (e.g., before ages 10 or 12), with regard to offspring suicide and attempted suicide, and early onset as well as long-term risk of attempted suicide hospitalization.

    “Several studies have found an age effect with impact of suicide being stronger when experienced at younger age (e.g., before ages 10 or 12), with regard to offspring suicide (Agerbo et al., 2002;Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2012;Wilcox et al., 2010) and attempted suicide, and early onset as well as long-term risk of attempted suicide hospitalization (Kuramoto, Runeson, Stuart, Lichtenstein, & Wilcox”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Agerbo et al., 2002

  • There is robust evidence from large population-based and case-control studies of increased suicide risk in adolescents related to aggregation of suicide in families, specifically parental suicide.

    “there is robust evidence from large population-based (Agerbo, Nordentoft, & Mortensen, 2002;Niederkrotenthaler, Floderus, Alexanderson, Rasmussen, & Mittendorfer-Rutz, 2012;Qin et al., 2002;Wilcox et al., 2010) and case-control studies (Cheng et al., 2014) of increased suicide risk in adolescents related to aggregation of suicide in families, specifically parental suicide”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Agerbo et al., 2002

  • In young people, suicide risk was related to maternal suicide (OR 4.75).

    “maternal suicide (OR 4.75)”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Agerbo et al. (2002)

  • Several studies found that risk of suicidal behavior was increased when familial suicide was experienced at younger age.

    “Several studies found that risk of suicidal behavior was increased when familial suicide was experienced at younger age (Agerbo et al., 2002;Kuramoto et al., 2013;Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2012;Roy, 1983;Wilcox et al., 2010).”

    From Pre- and postloss features of adolescent suicide bereavement: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Agerbo et al., 2002

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Authors
Agerbo, E., Nordentoft, M., & Mortensen, P. B.
Affiliations
Aarhus University (DK)
Corresponding author
Agerbo, Esben
ORCID
Venue
BMJ
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2002-07-13
Volume
325
Issue
7355
Pages
74
ISSN
  • 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
  • 0959-8138
  • 1468-5833
DOI
10.1136/bmj.325.7355.74
PMC
PMC117126
OpenAlex
W2158211153
Cited by
427
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 22
FWCI
18.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
Locations
  • BMJ (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Injury Epidemiology and Prevention
Keywords
youth suicide, suicide risk factors, family history of suicide, parental suicide, mental illness, socioeconomic status, parental unemployment, parental income, parental divorce, suicide prevention, youth
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Child, Denmark, Educational Status, Employment, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Suicide, Case-Control Studies

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